Mawlid According to the Salafi 'Ulama

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

What the Salafi `Ulema Say about Mawlid

We begin with the name of Allah Almighty, and with praise and
the invocation of peace on His beloved Messenger, and on his
family and Companions, and his followers in the way of Truth
against falsehood and injustice, up to the end of time.

We are now in a time when the enemies of Islam are like
wolves, not just barking on the threshold, but roving through our
home with no one armed and able to defend the weak and frightened
within. The majority of "scholars" are under the pay of
one oppressive regime or another and none are free or willing to
risk themselves to bring forth the light of truth.

Alhamdulillah, praise be to our Lord Almighty, who in every
century sends some of His righteous servants to rouse the Ummah
from its sluggishness, restore it to its rightful position as the
leader of Nations and to raise the flag of Prophet Muhammad high
for all nations and all people to gaze upon with awe and respect.

The Importance of Loving Prophet
Muhammad

Love of the Prophet (s) is a requirement on every believer.
This is mentioned in Qur'an: "Say: If you love Allah, then
follow me, Allah will love you" (Ali `Imran, 31).

The celebration of the Holy Prophet's birth (s) is motivated
by this obligation to love the Prophet, peace be upon him, to
obey him, to remember him, to follow his example, and to be proud
of him as Allah is proud of him, since Allah has boasted about
him in His Holy Book by saying:

"Truly you are of a magnificent character"
(al-Qalam, 4).

Love of the Prophet (s) is what differentiates the believers
in the perfection of their Iman. In an authentic hadith related
in Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet (s) said:

"None of you believes until he loves me more than he
loves his children, his parents, and all of mankind."

Perfection of faith is dependent on love of the Prophet (s)
because Allah and His angels are constantly praising his honor,
as is meant by the verse:
"Allah and His angels are praying on the Prophet."
The divine order that immediately follows in the verse,
"O Believers, pray on him..."
makes it clear that the quality of being a believer is dependent
on and manifested by praying on the Prophet. O Allah! Send peace
and blessings on the Prophet, his family and his Companions.

The Need for Mawlid in America

In our Islamic countries, love of the Prophet (s) is found
everywhere and is encouraged by the society. There, our children
are brought with the name of Muhammad (s) in their mind, as their
leader and example and the one to be loved above all people.
However here, in the West, no such environment exists and we find
ourselves cut off from that connection. In western nations and
especially the United States, we believe that the emphasis on the
love of the Prophet (s) needs to be stressed, even more perhaps
than in our Islamic nations. Because we are living in a secular
society, where even the public mention of God is almost a
criminal act and where the name of Muhammad (s), brings images of
desert bandits, terrorism and compulsion with swords.
Unfortunately this is the propaganda which we find ourselves and
our children subject to.

On the other hand, Jesus (as) is remembered with fondness, but
with the false misconception that he is the "son" of
God (hasha). With the extensive amount of advertising and
information about Jesus (as) according to the Christian
perspective, we find our children being strongly influenced,
especially because of Christmas and its pagan trappings.
Therefore we find that many Muslim children, raised by practicing
Muslim parents with the best of intentions, know the exact date
of the birth of Jesus (as), according to the Christian beliefs.
But if you ask them "when was your prophet born" they
cannot answer. In this way, the importance of Sayiddina Muhammad
is reduced in their eyes in front of "baby Jesus."

Since the permissibility of Mawlid according to Ahl as-Sunnah
wal Jama'at scholars is well-established, we believe the most
effective way to influence and effect our children to love our
beloved Prophet (s) is the remembrance of the Birthday of the
Prophet (s) in keeping with the sharia'a, and in a manner that
will completely counter the effects of Christmas on their young
minds and hearts. We cannot emphasize enough how beneficial the
effect of such observances is on young children growing up in the
land of kufr.

Unfortunately, when the celebration of Mawlid is proposed in
many mosques and Islamic Centers in the west, and especially in
the U.S. and Canada, we find a small but vocal group opposed to
this practice, even though its permissibility is
well-established. They vigourously oppose even the mention of the
birthday of the Prophet (s) as a bida'a. And they claim that
their viewpoint is supported by Salafi scholars.

Our intention in this pamphlet is to provide evidence that the
Mawlid is acceptable according to the scholars of the Salafi
school, the school followed by those who are opposed to the
Mawlid. Such fatawi (religious legal rulings) were made by all
the scholars of the Salafi school and they must be studied by all
those who claim to follow that school.

The opinion of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jama'at on
the permissibility of Mawlid is well known. Our intention here is
not to present the proofs of Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jama'at scholars
on the acceptibility of the Mawlid. These proofs are numerous,
and are based on Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (s). For
references to such proofs, see our book entitled "Innovation
and True Belief: The Celebration of Mawlid."(1) Our
intention is to present the fact that the `ulama of the Salafi
school accepted the Mawlid and did not object to it.

In any case, it is well-known that the mawlid is celebrated in
nearly every Islamic country in the world. It goes by many names,
but the concept is the same: to show our love, respect and praise
to our Lord for sending our beloved Prophet (s) to us and to all
creation on that day, the day of his birth (s). Mawlid is known
as Mevlud in Turkey, Albania, Greece, Bosnia (where its celebration is
an important festival). It is called Milad in Pakistan and India,
where its celebration is a wonderful holiday. And of course is
called Dhikr Mawlid Rasul-Allah (s) in almost all Arab countries.

Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyya's Opinion
on the Celebration of the Mawlid

"To celebrate and to honor the birth of the Prophet (s)
and to take it as an honored season, as some of the people are
doing, is good and in it there is a great reward, because of
their good intentions in honoring the Prophet (s)."

Ibn Qayyim's Opinion on Recitation of
the Prophet's (s) Birthday

Allama Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah, the best and most reknowned
student of Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyya, writes, on page 498 of
"Madarij as-Salikin,"
"Listening to a good voice celebrating the birthday of the
Prophet (s) or celebrating any of the holy days in our history
gives peace to the heart, and gives the listener light from the
Prophet (s) to his heart, and he will drink more from the
Muhammadan spring (`ayn al-Muhammadiyya)."

Ibn Kathir Praises the Night of Mawlid

One of the most reknowned scholars is Ibn Kathir. Ibn Kathir
was a muhaddith from the followers of Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn
Taymiyya, rahmatullah `alayh. Ibn Kathir, in the last days of his
life wrote a book entitled "Mawlid
Rasul Allah (s)" which was spread far and wide. That
book mentioned the permissibility and recommendability of
celebrating the Mawlid.

Ibn Kathir says in the aforementioned book, p. 19:"The Night of the Prophet's (s) birth is a magnificent,
noble, blessed and holy night, a night of bliss for the
believers, pure, radiant with lights and of immeasurable
price."

"Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyya was asked, `Which is
better, Laylat al-Qadr or Laylat al-'Israa'?' and he answered,
`With respect to the Prophet (s), Laylat al-'Israa' is better
than Laylat al-Qadr.'"

The Importance of Laylat al-Mawlid

Now we ask: If Ibn Taymiyya accepted that Laylat al-'Israa'
may be considered better than Laylat ul-Qadr, why not consider
that Laylat al-Mawlid is better than Laylat al-'Israa', since the
Night of the Prophet's (s) Birth is the night in which was born
the one who went to `Isra' and Mi'raaj? Therefore we say, as Ibn
Marzuq, the reknowned student of Imam Nawawi said: "Laylat
al-Mawlid is better than Laylat al-Qadr."

Ibn Kathir Mentions The Prophet (s)
Accepting Poetry in His Honor

In the time of the Prophet (s), it is well-known that poets
came to him with all kinds of works praising him, writing about
his campaigns and battles and about the Sahaba. This is proved by
the numerous poems quoted in the Siras of Ibn Hisham, al-Waqidi,
and others. The Prophet (s) was happy with good poetry. It is
reported in Bukhari's "al-Adab al-Mufrad" that he said:
"There is wisdom in poetry."

Ibn Kathir says in his "Mawlid," page 30: "The
Prophet's (s) uncle al-'Abbas (r) composed poetry praising the
birth of the Prophet (s), in which are found the following lines:
`When you were born, the earth was shining, and the firmament
barely contained your light, and we can pierce through, thanks to
that radiance and light and path of guidance.'"

Ibn Kathir mentions the fact that according to the Sahaba, the
Prophet (s) praised his own name and recited poetry about himself
in the middle of the battle of Hunayn in order to encourage the
Companions and frighten the enemies. That day he said (s):
"Ana an-Nabee, laa kadhib Ana ibn `abd al-Muttalib"
meaning: "I am the Prophet! This is no lie. I am the son of
`Abd al-Muttalib!"

Ibn Qayyim on the Singing and
Recitation of Poetry

`Allama Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya wrote in his book "Madarij
as- Salikin," Vol. 1:
"the Prophet (s) also gave permission to sing in wedding
celebrations, and allowed poetry to be recited to him. He heard
Anas (r) and the Companions praising him and reciting poems while
digging before the famous battle of the Trench (Khandaq) as they
said: "We are the ones who gave bay'ah to Muhammad for jihad
as long as we are living."

Ibn Qayyim also mentions `Abdullah ibn Rawaha's long poem
praising the Prophet (s) as the latter entered Mecca, after
which, the Prophet (s) prayed for him. He prayed that Allah
support Hassan, another poet, with the Holy Spirit as long as he
would support the Prophet (s) with his poetry. Similarly the
Prophet (s) rewarded Ka'b ibn Zubayr's poem of praise with a
robe. Ibn Qayyim continues, "`A'isha always recited poems
praising him and he was happy with her."

Ibn Qayyim on the Melodious Recitation
of Qur'an

Ibn al-Qayyim says in the same book, page 488, "Allah
gave permission to his Prophet (s) to recite the Qur`an in a
melodious way. "

Ibn Qayyim continues, "The Prophet (s) said, `Decorate
the Qur'an with your voices,' and `Who does not sing the Qur'an
is not from us.' Ibn Qayyim comments on page 490: "To take
pleasure in a good voice is acceptable, as is taking pleasure
from nice scenery, such as mountains or nature, or from a nice
smell, or from good food, as long as it is conforming to shari'a.
If listening to a good voice is haram, then taking pleasure in
all these other things is also haram."

Ibn Taymiyya's Opinion on the Meetings
of Dhikr

The following is the opinion of Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyya
on meetings of dhikr. It can be found in Vol. 22, page 253 of the
Collected Fatwas, King Khalid ibn `Abdul `Aziz edition
("Majma'a Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya"):
Ibn Taymiyya was asked about people that gather in a masjid
making dhikr and reading Qur'an, praying to Allah and taking
their turbans off their heads (leaving their heads bare) and
crying, while their intention is not pride nor showing off but
seeking to draw closer to Allah: is it acceptable or not?